Automatic camera



J. M. RESCH.

AUTOMATIC CAMERA. APPLICATION mib luxus, 191s. nzniwen ocT. 4. 1920.

Patented Mal'.v 15, 1921.

O lalu E uw@ JOSEPH MARTN RESO-I, OF VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC CAIVIERA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

Application led June 29, 1918, Serial No. 242,650. Renewed october 4, 1920. Serial No. 414,671.

Ee it known that l, Josnrri Maurin REsoH, a citizen oi the United States, residing at Vallejo, in the county oi' Solano, State ot California, have invented anew and useful. Automatic Camera; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to malre and use the same.

The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cameras of that type in which :film cartridges are used and the exposures taken upon successive lengths ot a iilm which is caused to pass through the camera by winding from one spool upon another spool, the object of the invention being to provide means whereby the lilm strip will be automatically moved the proper amount when the camera is opened up preparatory to taking a picture, thereby avoiding the possibilityT ot making two exposures on the same iilm.

Further objects oi' the invention are to provide a camera of this type which will utilize the conventional liim cartridges, which 'can be used in'substantially the same manner-as the ordinary camera, which provides'forj opening and 'closing the camera. without moving the filmstrip when such is necessary, and which is not liable to get out of repair or adjustment. y

Viththese and other objects in view, the invention Consists in certain novel combi-y nations and arrangements ot the parts as will4 more fully appear as theV description proceeds, thernovel features thereof being pointedV out in the appended claims.y

F or atu'll vunderstanding` ot' the invention, reference is Yto, be had to the following descriptio'n' and j accompanying drawings, in which:- p v 'Figure 1 is a side elevation of a camera provided with iilm4 moving means embodying the invention, thecasin'g of the camera being broken away tobringout more clearly the details of construction. A Y

F ig. 2 isafront elevationorp the camera with portions `broken away and shown in section. Y ""Figzis a detached perspective view of the spring actuated drum, portions being broken away Vand shown in section.

Fig. 4 is an enlargeddetached perspective view of the clutch releasing sprinU.

F ig. 5 is a detail view showing the mountingwlfor the ilin winding wheel.

l* ig. 6 is a detail view showing the clutch face of the driving gear.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate one embodiment ci the invention, the reference character A designates the body or casing ot a camera, and B the front thereot which is connected to the casing by a conventional bellows C so that the camera can be collapsed in the well-known manner and carried in the pocket or packed in a small amount of space when not in use. The casing A is subdivided by a partition l into a main compartment 2 and a side chamber 3. The lilm is caused to pass through the back ot the main compartment 2 in the usual manner so that exposures can be taken upon successive lengths thereof, the ilm being unwound from a spool d and wound upon a spool 5. These spools are of the conventional construction, being' each provided at one end with a notched studor projection 6 which is adapted to be engaged by a hlm winding device. The notched stud G ot the spool 5 extends through an opening in the partition 1 and is engaged by a wing T on a spool turning gear wheel S. VThis gear wheel is slidable on a shaft 9 and is held yieldably in operative position by the tension ot spring 10 which is interposed between the wheel and one side of the casing. rlhe end ot the shaft 9 is pointed at 9 and engages a depression in the edge ot' the wing l when the spool isk in position, thereby holding the parts centered and providing a delicate bearing which offers a minimum amount 'ot' resistance. The tilm spool 5 may be conveniently vplaced in position trom the opposite side or" the camera, pushing the gear wheerS rearwardly against the action of the springV l() until the pointed end 9a of the shaft 9 engages the depression of the wing 7, at whichtinie the parts are in their final position. The gear wheel 8 meshes with an idlerA 11, and 'this idler in turn meshes with a driving gear 12 which is loose on a shaft 13. A hollow drum 14 is loosely mounted upon the said shaft 13 at one side lof the driving gear 12, and a spiral spring lfwhich is housed within the hollow drum has one end thereoi1 secured to the drum and the other end thereof secured to the shaft. A flexible cord 16 is connected to the exterior of the hollow `drum 14, said cord passing 'around an anti-friction member or stud 1'? and having the forward endV thereof connected at 18 to the front B of the camera. lVhen the camera is opened up, as indicated by Fig. 1, the flexible cord 16 is unwound from the'hollow drum 14 and the spring 15 on the inside of the drum placed under tension. This unwinding ofthe flexible cord from the hollow drum causes the drum to rotate, and a clutch connection isV provided between the drum and the driving gear 12 Vwhereby the driving gear rotates with the drum as the cord is unwound therefrom, thereby turning the spool 5 and winding a suiiicient length of the film strip thereon to bring a fresh portion of the film strip in position for an exposure. s

T he inner face of the Vdriving gear 12 is provided with an annular series of inclined teeth 19 which form ac lutch face, and these teeth are engaged by spring arms 2O projecting from the opposed face of the hollow drum 14. lVhen the hollow drum is turned in one direction by the unwinding of the flexible Vcord 16 therefrom the spring arms 20 of the drum engage the clutch face 19 to rotate the driving gear 12 therewith and actuate the spool 5 yto wind the necessary length of film thereon. However, when the hollovT drum 14 rotates in the opposite direction under the action of the springl to rewind' the flexible cord 16 thereon, the spring arms 2O slip over the clutch face 19. It will thus be obvious that when the camera front B is pulled out-to open up the camera 19 of the driving gear 12, so tli-at there is no movement of the film spool at that time. The film isl thus automatically moved through the camera to bring a fresh portion thereof in position for an exposure each time the camera is opened up, thereby avoiding the necessity/of manually winding the iilm each time an exposure is taken, and rendering it practically impossible to take two exposures on the same portion of the film.

A spring plate 21 extends between the driving gear 12 and hollow drum 14, the upper end of the plate being secured at 22 to bracket arms 22a projecting from the par- Y tition 1, while. the lower end thereof 'is provided with a button or linger piece 23 which projects through an opening in the side of the camera. The middle portion of the plate 21 is cut away at 24 to provide an opening of sufficient size to clear the clutch face 19 of the driving gear and the spring arms 2O of the hollow drum l14. These spring arms 2O of the Vhollow drum are normally in engagement with the clutch face 19, although when the button 23 is pressed inwardly the shifting plate 21 will slide the drum 14 away from the driving gear 12 and open the clutch by disengaging the spring arms 2O from the teeth 19.

with each other the camera can be opened and closed without actuating the film winding mechanism. rIhis enables the camera to be opened up without moving the iilm where the film was previously moved without maling an exposure. The spiral spring 15 within the hollow drum 14'rnay be rigidlyfse- Vcured to the shaft and drum so that the side or lateral tension thereof will beV sufcient VVto slide the drum into operative position as soon as the clutch opening plate 21 is released.4 Grdinarily .only a single exposure is made each time the camera is opened up and in such cases the film will be automatically fed in the necessary manner withoutV the necessity of manually winding the same. Where two exposures are taken at the saine place, the camera can be closed andV againk opened in order to move the iilm, and this operation of opening' and closing the camera is easier and quicker than that of manually winding the film in the conventional manner. opened up without takingV an exposure, the button 23y can be pressed inwardly to open up theY clutch when the cameraV is wnext opened` thereby preventing vthe actuation of the film winding mechanism andenabling a picture to be taken upon the unexposed When the twoelements of theV clutch ai'e thus moved out of engagement l There it happens that the camera is portion of the film.y It will be understood, 1

operative. in connection with a camera having such zit-construction that the front is always moved outward a predetermined posiof the camera for operating the spring drum,

and means for opening the clutch connection between the drum and driving gear.

2. The combination with a camera including a casing and folding front, of a film winding member, a driving gear, gearing between the driving gear and the film winding member, a spring drum mounted at one side of the driving gear, a clutch connection between the drum and driving gear, and a flexible cord normally wound upon the drum and operatively connected to the folding front of the camera whereby the drum will be actuated by movement of the folding front,

3. The combination with a camera including a casing and folding front, of a film winding wheel provided with means for engaging a film spool, a driving gear, gearing between the driving gear and the film winding wheel, a spring drum at one side of the driving gear and movable toward and away therefrom, complemental clutch members on the opposed faces of the driving gear and drum, means for moving the drum away from the driving gear to break the clutch connection, and a flexible cord normally wound upon the drum and operatively connected to the folding front of the camera, whereby the drum will be actuated by movement of the folding front of the camera.

4. The combination with a camera including a casing and folding front, of a film winding wheel provided with means for engaging the film spool, a shaft, a driving gear mounted upon the shaft, gearing between the driving wheel and the lm winding wheel, a spring actuated drum mounted upon the shaft, complemental clutch elements on the opposed faces of the driving gear and drum, a clutch controlled member extending between the driving gear and drum and adapted to be actuated to separate the members to break the clutch connection between the same, and a flexible cord normally wound upon the drum and operatively connected to the folding front of the camera whereby the drum will be actuated when the folding front is moved into operative position.

5. The combination with a camera having a casing and folding front, of a shaft having a pointed end, a film winding wheel loose on the shaft and provided at the center thereof with a lateral wing adapted to engage the notched end of a film spool, the edge of the wing being engaged by the pointed end of the shaft when a film spool is in position, yielding means normally tending to slide the film winding wheel into operative position, and means actuated by movement of the folding front of the camera to turn the film winding wheel and rotate the spool to feed the film as required.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH MARTIN RESCH.

Witnesses H. G. HEYL. W. T. Hnss. 

